LestersLegends.com

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The Patriots made a big splash earlier in the day by adding Albert Haynesworth. They made a bigger fantasy splash later in the day by acquiring Chad Ochocinco. This give Tom Brady one more weapon and Chad Ochocinco gets a nice boost in value. I now consider him a low-end WR2/high-end WR3.
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Reggie Bush is taking his talents to South Beach. The controversial former USC Trojan and Super Bowl winner with the New Orleans Saints was traded to the Miami Dolphins. His acquisition likely marks the end of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown’s runs with the Dolphins. Bush will team up with rookie Daniel Thomas.
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Big surprise! Arizona won the Kevin Kolb Sweepstakes. It was pretty much common knowledge that Kolb was going to Arizona, but now it’s official. Now that Kolb has a starting job again he regains some fantasy value. I’m not buying into him as much as I did last year because he has fewer weapons. Sure Larry Fitzgerald, whose value increases with the acquisition, is an elite receiver, but there’s little else. That said, Kolb is a solid QB2. I wouldn’t downgrade DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek, or LeSean McCoy, but they are riskier options now that the Eagles have lost their safety net should Michael Vick get hurt again.
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As expected the Titans released Vince Young. He’ll land somewhere. Maybe Philly. Stay tuned.
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It didn’t take New Orleans long to replace Reggie Bush. They added Darren Sproles, who is one of the few players in the league that have a similar skill set to Bush. The passing game should hum as usual. Mark Ingram takes a small hit while Pierre Thomas is just about dealt a death blow.
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The Bills added Brad Smith. It could be a bigger blow to the Jets than it will be a gain for fantasy owners. He’s a good football player, but doesn’t get enough touches for the reality to match the fantasy.
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Also check out:

• 2011 Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• 2011 Fantasy Football TE Rankings

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There is some speculation that Chad Ochocinco could land with the Patriots when the lockout comes to a close. The Patriots have had success taking talented players with less than perfect pasts. Does he make sense for New England though?
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At 33 he is no longer the threat that he once was. Ocho has just one 1000 yard season in the past three year, and at 1047 yards it was well off the 1374 he averaged from 2003-2007. 43 (8.6 TDs per season) of his 66 career touchdowns came from that stretch giving him an average of. The past three years he averaged 806  yards and 5.7 touchdowns. He averaged 92.4 receptions from 03-07 and just 64 over the past three years.
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Everything depends on Ochocinco’s mental state. If he commits himself to the game, like he did in 2009, Ocho can put up solid numbers once again. He would have to limit some of the sideshow activities and focus on football.
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The thing the Patriots have going for them is they are not afraid to step on toes. Randy Moss was abruptly shown the door when he started to create tension in New England’s locker room. When players’ worth on the field no longer justifies their paychecks, the Patriots aren’t afraid to move on. With a strong-minded coach and quarterback, the Patriots simply wouldn’t put up with Ocho’s ways.
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Most of the drama is usually occurs when his team isn’t winning. When things were going good in Cincinnati, Ocho’s antics were cute and funny. When they were losing it was looked at as a distraction. If the Patriots were to continue their success, which is a strong possibility, then it should be less of an issue for Ochocinco to walk the line.
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While he would’t replace Randy Moss as a deep threat, Ocho would help. Deion Branch did an admirable job for the Patriots following his trade from Seattle, but he would likely have a hard time holding off Ocho for snaps.
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Ocho’s days of being a WR1 are long over. Mostly he would be a WR3 that could potentially produce like a WR2. We’ll just have to stay tuned to see where he lands.
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Also check out:

• 2011 Early Fantasy Football QB Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football RB Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football WR Rankings
• 2011 Early Fantasy Football TE Rankings

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It’s Thanksgiving time, and what better way to thank my wonderful readers than to run a contest with a cool prize. The prize, is a sweet fantasy football shirt from SMW Clothing. Not only can you beat all of your friends in fantasy every week, but you can look good doing it.
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So how do you win the contest? Simple. Whoever guesses the combined yardage that Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco have against the Jets on Thanksgiving night without going over wins. No repeat answers.
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So leave a comment with your best guess and be sure to check out SMW Clothing.

The Bengals have been relatively quiet this offseason. That’s a good thing because for them it usually means arrests. They did add Antonio Bryant to give Ochocinco some help. The Bengals look to have plenty of weapons (figuratively not literally) on the offensive side of the ball.

Fantasy Playoff Schedule: Moderate
The Bengals have one cupcake match-up against the Browns sandwiched between tilts with Pittsburgh on the road and San Diego at home. While the Week 14 & 16 match-ups aren’t juicy, you’ll probably roll with most of your top guns.

Five Star Fantasy Options
Cedric Benson – Benson followed up his impressive end to the 2008 season with a 1251 yard, 6 TD 2009 campaign. With Larry Johnson moving on to Washington, there is no clear threat to his carries.

Chad Ochocinco – I should technically call him Chad Cero Revis after getting shut down by Revis not once, but twice to close out the year. That said, he returned to form with a 72-1047-9 season. With Antonio Bryant on board, Ocho should get a little more breathing room.

Four Star Fantasy Options
Carson Palmer – Palmer had a nice TD-INT ratio (21-13), completion percentage (60.5) and passer rating (83.6). What he lacked was passing yardage. There were 17 QBs who threw for more yards than his 3094. The addition of Bryant and rookie TE Jermaine Gresham should help. He remains a low-end QB1 or a high-end QB2.

Three Star Fantasy Options
Antonio Bryant – Bryant’s 2009 season was pretty much a lost cause thanks to injuries and Tampa Bay’s ineptitude. He gets a new lease on life with the Bengals and should be a solid WR3 this year.

Bengals Defense/Special Teams - I don’t think their defense will be as stout as last year, but they do have some favorable match-ups (Browns twice, Bucs, Bills). They also face the Pats, Ravens twice, Falcons, Dolphins, Colts, Steelers, Chargers, Jets, and Saints. In other words, don’t use them as your #1 fantasy defense.

Two Star Fantasy Options
Jermaine Gresham – It usually takes rookie TEs some time to adjust, but Gresham should be able to make an impact sooner rather than later. He has great size and will help Palmer attack the middle of the field, as well as providing a red zone target.

One Star Fantasy Options
Andre Caldwell – Caldwell is a decent slot receiver, and has some value in PPR leagues, but has very little upside.

Click here for additional 2010 NFL Team Previews.

We’re kicking off a new series called the Fourth & 1 Debate in which one fantasy football writer posts a question to a panel of fantasy football writers from some of the top fantasy football sites.

Our friend Eric Stashin, the Rotoprofessor, kicked things off.  Click here to see the full article. 

Here’s my response:

While it is difficult to make any rash decisions after one game, the fact of the matter is that some players are to good to drop, but too bad to play.  Sometimes those players snap out of their funk.  Other times they just continue to struggle and when you finally do cut them, you missed out on all of the early season surprises.

One player I would consider cutting is Laveranues Coles.  In his debut with the Bengals he caught just one pass for 11 yards. He wasn’t facing the mighty Pittsburgh defense, rather the lowly Denver Broncos, who ranked 26th against the pass last year.  He was targeted just five times, and managed to drop three passes.  Chad Ochocinco was clearly Carso Palmer’s go-to-guy, and second-year WR Andre Caldwell looked good with 6 receptions.  Preseason superstar Chris Henry played a limited role because of a thigh injury, but his role should expand going forward.

Aside from having a lot of competition for touches, Coles is playing in a offense that could struggle to put points on the board.  Palmer is going to take some time to work off the rust.  At this point, I’m not that confident he’ll do it anytime soon.  With a bye and four games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the next eight weeks, there wouldn’t be many opportunities to even give Coles a shot.  At this point, I think it would be best to cut ties with Coles and pick up someone with more upside.

Panelists
Junkyard Jake of www.junkyardjake.com
Ryan Lester of www.lesterslegends.com
Paul Greco of www.fantasypros911.com
Bryce McRae of www.kffl.com
Kurt Turner of www.top-fantasy-football.com
Eric Stashin of www.rotoprofessor.com
Lee of www.footballjabber.com
Smitty of www.fantasyfootballxtreme.com